The Best Upcoming Superhero Movies in 2019

2019 is shaping up to be an incredible year for superhero fans. Not only will we see the culmination that the MCU has been building to for more than a decade in Avengers: Endgame. We’ll also get more superhero films in 2019 than we ever have before. Here are the superhero movies in 2019 that we’re most excited about.

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is a shoo-in for the most anticipated of the superhero movies in 2019. After the emotional impact of Thanos’ victory, the Avengers will be picking up the pieces and, presumably, trying to bring back the heroes that got snapped, at the very least. Considering that we knew certain heroes have to survive so they can be in future films, this probably wasn’t a huge shock. But considering that the “core” original Avengers—Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Window—are all on the way out of the MCU according to their contracts and social media posts. Will we see a self-sacrifice plot in which the old heroes sacrifice themselves for the continued existence of the new heroes, passing the torch to a new generation of protagonists? The smart money says yes.

In theaters 26 April 2019. Count the days!

Spider-Man: Far From Home

People have been trying to make a good Spider-Man movie since the advent of comic book films. But never has the performance captured the youthful mischievousness wrapped around a good heart and a strong desire to help people that the comic books were able to express over the decades. But with the runaway success of Tom Holland in the role of Spider-Man, it seems we’ve finally turned the corner into the land of not just acceptable, but good Spider-Man films.

Holland outshone the performance of some more seasoned actors in the core Avengers films, and that’s driven interest and excitement in the character from new corners. Spider-Man was always supposed to be a comic that appealed to teenagers, but the huge demographic of people with a massive crush on Tom Holland have flocked to the franchise. His fan club is not bound by gender, either—you can count yours truly among his many admirers. Just check out Tommy’s earned media performance: there are whole blogs on Tumblr that are only about Tom Holland’s portrayal of Spider-Man. The kid is a meme at this point. And while fame may fade, memes… memes last forever.

Spider-Man: Far From Home promises to be another excellent entry in the Spider-Man franchise. But how can we have a movie about Spidey when he’s been snapped? The film will be set immediately after the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, which will obviously be bringing his character back to life in some way. Did you really think that Marvel was gonna kill their two most exciting, bankable characters? In this film, Spidey will be working at the behest of Nick Fury to fight Mysterio in Europe, so expect a return to the traditional superhero-vs-supervillain plot structure.

In theaters 5 July 2019.

Captain Marvel

Bring on the female superheroes! It’s awesome to see Brie Larson in this role, and from the teaser cuts, she appears to be kicking quite a lot of ass. The effects look extraordinary, and Captain Marvel will probably be pivotal to solving the Thanos crisis. After all, she was the hero that Nick Fury beeped when things got totally out of hand.

In Captain Marvel, we can expect to get a tour of the early days of the MCU. We’re flashing back pretty far, before Nick Fury even had an eye patch. Judging from the teaser, we can also expect some interstellar space battles in which Captain Marvel flies around with a glowing mohawk and corrects people’s assumptions about the universe. We’re pumped to see Captain Marvel on the map before she rides in to help save the day in Avengers 4.

In theaters 8 March 2019.

Glass

Finally, something outside the MCU! While Marvel does rule the roost with their superhero properties, they’re not the only dog in the fight. Glass will be the culmination of the sort-of trilogy started with Unbreakable and Split, both which took a more sinister, cerebral approach rather than the MCU’s colorful amusements. While we are a little suspect of how this film could turn out, it has great potential to push superhero movies into a genre they have historically failed in. “Gritty” superhero movies age quickly, but we’ve never seen a superhero created just for cinema in the same situations. So while Superman is a bad fit for the grimdark universe of Zack Snyder, the heroes of M. Night Shyamalan might be a better fit. Our only concern is if Shyamalan can bring the trilogy home. The man loves a twist ending so much that it gets in the way of good writing.

In theaters 18 January 2019.

Wonder Woman 1984

Wonder Woman was a surprise smash hit with the first film of what is sure to be a money-printing franchise. The film was hailed as a major breakthrough for female-led superhero films, especially considering just how terrible the previous ones were (Catwoman, anyone?) and how little money they made. But with Wonder Woman raking in the cash, a sequel in the form of Wonder Woman 1984 was a certainty.

We can expect to see Wonder Woman in the midst of the cold war, though this does seem to imply that Wonder Woman sat out the Nazis, the Vietnam War, and Korean War, and a bunch of other truly terrible wars far worse than the Great War she so casually fought in. The wonderfully-accented Gal Gadot will be reprising her role as Wonder Woman. And despite his apparent explodey death in the last film, Chris Pine is billed as returning as well.

In theaters 5 June 2019

Joker

Listen, we all know that Heath Ledger was the One True Joker of the silver screen. It’s tragic that such a talent was taken from us so soon after that incredible performance. And sadder still that we’ve had to suffer a parade of truly terrible Joker appearances since then. What is the DC cinematic universe, some kind of suicide squad? Joaquin Phoenix will replace Jared Leto’s edgy meme of a scenery-chewing Joker from Suicide Squad, so we can all breath a sigh of relief when it comes to the titular role in this film. Phoenix has some superstar starring roles under his belt, including an award-worthy turn in “Her” and “The Master,” as well as a creeptastic performance as the incestuous emperor in “Gladiator.” If he’s allowed to put his best foot forward for this film, we can expect a similarly excellent psychological performance.

In theaters 4 October 2019.

The New Mutants

We’ve got Sasha Stark in Dark Phoenix, and we’ve got her Arya Stark in The New Mutants. Maisie Williams, who has absolutely murdered her role in Game of Thrones (pun so very intended), will be showing up as Wolfsbane, one of the titular new mutants, alongside Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik. They’ll play two of the five mutants who are being held against their will at a secret facility and experimented on by some very dumb government droogs. We are totally here for a mutant-powered prison break film staring Assassination Stark.

In theaters 13 April 2019.

Hellboy

You loved Stranger Things, right? Who didn’t, it was a great series. And last season’s breakout star was David Harbour as the heart-of-gold chief of police. He’ll be running the show as Hellboy, making him the third actor to play the role since the industry tried making films about the character. Hellboy has a heritage as one of the deliberately sarcastic heroes in the canon, which gives writers plenty of material to play with. In the past, that’s meant “giving writers enough rope to hang themselves” but Hellboy 2019 has a real chance of success. Milla Jovovich will be working alongside Harbour, bringing her backflipping, dead-eyed, demon-murdering experience from the apparently unkillable Resident Evil franchise. We’ll be there on opening night for sure!

In theaters 12 April 2019.

Dark Phoenix

The story of Jean Grey’s corruption as an X-Man, becoming Dark Phoenix over the course of the film. Staring Sophie Turner, also know as Queen Bitch Sansa of Game of Thrones fame, as well as Jennifer Lawrence, reprising her absolutely wooden performance as Mystique, Friend of Angry Mutants, and James McAvoy as Hot Professor X. Just because there hasn’t been an amazing X-Men movie so far doesn’t mean we will get one in 2019.

In theaters 7 June 2019.

Shazam!

If you’re familiar with the stranger corners of the internet, you might have encountered the Mandela Effect. Named after the supposed funeral of Nelson Mandela sometime in the 80s, the eponymous effect is a trumped-up name for people misremembering events and blaming their poor memory on reality splitting into its component parts. Let me ask you which one is more likely: Aunt Karen misremembered something she was on TV twenty years ago, or the universe split into pieces and the title of the Berenstain Bears books is the only remaining clue? Anyway, the non-existent “Shazam” film starring Sinbad was part of this effect, and I guess some Hollywood bigwigs thought that sounded like a good idea. I have to assume that Sinbad wasn’t available for the role, so we’ve got the relatively-unknown Zachary Levi in the title role as the superhero Shazam.

In theaters 5 April 2019.

Conclusion

There are plenty of other superhero films in 2019, so fans won’t be waiting. Expect great things from Marvel’s Phase 4, and not-awful things from DC’s dark and broody cinematic universe!